Julian?

 

In the last year, Jeff Laurie’s son Julian has become a “name” more than occasionally associated as a “participant” in Eagles activities.  Jeff has owned the Eagles since 1994 and will turn 71 as the ’22 Eagle season begins. He has 2 children, a daughter Milena (born in 1993) and a son Julian, born in 1995.  Julian graduated from Harvard in 2017 and immediately took a 2-year rotational internship with the NFL.  This is “the NFL’s highly selective, high-potential program in which participants complete up to 4 rotations over a two-year period across a variety of departments and office locations.. this program will offer an unparalleled opportunity to immerse yourself into the world of professional football through a series of challenging work assignments, League events, and networking opportunities.”  Julian completed the program in 2019.

Per Jeff’s recent “state of the Eagles,” he described Julian as “an avid Philadelphia sports fan… He loves the Eagles… loves the NFL… has a great feel for many aspects of the sport… learned, thru the rotation program, about the business side and the league side… I want to expose his to all aspects of both the business side and the operational side, the nuts and bolts and also the strategy side.  He’s going to have so much more going into it than I did if he chooses to want to some day own and run the team.  He’s going to have a gigantic advantage and maybe won’t make some of the early mistakes I made… He loves all aspects of it.  What I do is expose him at different times to different things… Observe coaching searches…  Exposure to the business side, the football side.  Inevitably, there will be a formal aspect to it if he aspires to do that.  At this time, it’s wanting to expose him to any and every aspect… As you see in families that own teams (across generations), that’s kind of what happens.

The Rooney’s (Steelers) and Mara’s (Giants) are 2 examples where the team has remained with the respective family across generations.  I would respect anyone who owns the Eagles anticipating the eventual transition of ownership.  I’d respect them giving any interested descendants the opportunity to “assume the mantle,” presuming they showed the right combination of intellect, interest and respect for what the team represents to the city of Philadelphia (Frankly, an owner would have a legal right even were those qualities bereft, but a good owner would recognize that liability and move in a different direction).  Julian appears to be in a position to demonstrate the qualities necessary.  His father is therefore engaging him at a level (so far) that appears very appropriate.  It does not seem to be a fast track forcing a premature transfer of authority without demonstration of appropriate capability, familiarity and passion.   Still, Julian is clearly being groomed to “run the family business” when Jeff decides to transition.

Eagles Lesson: Like any high-stakes family business, ambition, allegiance, rivalry and a dearth of future owner capability can lead to tumultuous succession.  This appears to be the opposite of what is happening in Philadelphia.  I applaud the approach, so far (slowly embed the prospective owner appropriately in activities across the organization… Business, Operations, PR, etc., and confirm the capability is there and the passion is not fleeting).  I look forward to learning about Julian as he develops his own public persona.